Boston Dynamics turned its robot dog into a talking tour guide using AI as seen in a somewhat unsettling video posted by Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics used OpenAI’s ChatGPT API, along with some open-source large language models (LLM) to carefully train its responses. It then outfitted the bot with a speaker, added text-to-speech capabilities, and made its mouth mimic speech “like the mouth of a puppet.”
The version speaking in a British accent and the one of a Shakespearean time traveller had me 😂 but it’s certainly a little unsettling overall.
They also uploaded this video a day after they showed off new functionality on their “Stretch” robot which more directly impacts livelihoods, as Stretch isn’t cute. Stretch is meant to replace menial labor.
Spot is cute and proactive. Stretch is what Boston Dynamics is actually selling.